Paintball pod harness with internal pouch

ABSTRACT

A paintball pod harness having a central body having a concealable pouch to allow for expanded capacity off of the paintball field with a compacted arrangement for play on the field. The central body supports exterior pod sleeves for carrying paintball pods and has an internal core accessible by a body opening for concealing the expanding capacity pouch.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application hereby claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/035,675, filed on Jan. 14, 2005, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. provisional application Ser. No.60/536,873, filed on Jan. 16, 2004, which are hereby incorporated byreference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limitedto copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rightswhatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of paintball pod harnesses.In particular, the present invention relates specifically to a podharness having a concealable pouch adapted to carry an expanded load ofadditional gear or pods during transportation to the playing field whilestill maintaining a low profile design for use on the actual playingfield. Particularly, the invention relates to a harness having a pouchwhich can be concealed or exposed, and may be used with particularapplication in the paint ball industry.

2. Description of the Known Art.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, various types ofharnesses are known, and these may comprise containers, closable orotherwise, for accommodating objects to be carried by a user. In manyinstances, the harness may attach around the waist, such as by a belt,for easy portability and access to objects contained within the harness.

United States patents showing paintball pods or harnesses include: U.S.Pat. No. D460,502, issued to Traum et al. on Jul. 16, 2002 entitledPaintball Tube; U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,642, issued to Herbage on Dec. 12,2000 entitled Modular Carrier Assembly Adapted For Paintball; and U.S.Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0031836, filed by Garciahaving a publication date of Feb. 19, 2004 entitled Paintball StorageTube Carrier. Each of these patents and application publicationreferences are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited intheir teaching and utilization, and an improved harness is needed toovercome these limitations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an improved paintball harnesshaving a collapsible expanded carrying that collapses into the interiorvolume of the harness such that the expandable pouch does not interferewith normal operation of the harness during the extensive activitiesrequired on the field of play.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a harness 10 with a pouch comprising a body orcontainer portion for holding objects, and a pouch portion, the pouchportion being moveable between a first position wherein it is concealed,and second position wherein it is exposed.

Preferably, the body or container portion may be mounted on a belt orsimilar structure which can be attached to the waist of a user. The bodyor container portion may be divided into two or more compartments, eachof which may have closure means, such as flaps or covers, for closingoff the space.

Preferably, the body or container portion is attached to a belt whichmay be worn by the user.

Preferably, the harness has a body or container portion which comprisesa pair of side panels either overlapping or substantially co-planar witheach other, sealed or partially sealed to define a space for the storageof items. The side panels may be provided with access means, such as aslot, and the pouch can either be stored within the space, or removedtherefrom, by moving it back and forth through the access means or slot.

The access means or slot may be closable, such as by a zipper, buttons,press studs, hook and loop fastener, or any other means, to ensure thatit remains closed, preferably to protect any contents stored in the bodyor container portion.

Preferably, the pouch portion is of generally square, rectangular, orrounded shape, and may be formed by a pair of substantially co-planarside panels stitched together at or near their edges, to form a pouchspace, and pouch access means for opening the pouch portion to placeobjects into the pouch space. The pouch access means, which may be inthe form of a slot, may be selectively openable and closable by means ofa zipper, hook and loop fastener, or any other mechanism for releasablysealing the pouch side panels to each other.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, alongwith features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or becomeapparent by reviewing the following detailed description of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification andwhich are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which likereference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible toindicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the harness 10 with pouch of the inventionshowing the interior side wall with the pouch concealed;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the harness shown in FIG. 1 of the drawingswith the pouch exposed;

FIG. 3 is a back view of the harness shown in FIG. 1 with the pouchconcealed; and

FIG. 4 is a back view of the harness shown in FIG. 3 of the drawingswith the pouch exposed.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway view showing the pouch inserted into the interiorspace of the central body.

FIG. 6 is a cutaway view showing the pouch in the exterior position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 6 of the drawings, one exemplary embodimentof the present invention is generally shown as a harness 10 of theinvention, comprising a container 12 with pouch 60, and a belt 14. Thecontainer 12 has side walls 16 and 18, a bottom wall 20, and a top wall22.

The belt 14 comprises two lateral components 24 and 26. Each lateralcomponent 24 and 26 comprises a connector portion 28 and a belt portion30. One side of the connector portion 28 connects to a side wall 16 or18 of the container 12, while the other side of the connector portion 28connects to the belt component 30. In conventional fashion, the lateralcomponents 24 and 26 may be located around, for example, the waist of awearer/user, and the ends 32 of the lateral components 24 and 26 adaptedsecure to each other in any one of a number of manners to keep theharness 10 attached to the wearer.

The container 12 comprises a back wall 40 and a front wall 42, the back40 and front wall 42 being of substantially the same shape, arranged ina coplanar manner with respect to each other, and connected to eachother along edges which form the side walls 16 and 18, top wall 22 andbottom wall 20. The back wall 40 and front wall 42 define an open spacetherebetween, generally indicated by the reference numeral 46. A slot48, which may be closed by a zipper 50, or any other mechanism forclosing the slot 48, is provided. When the zipper 50 is pulled to oneside, the slot 48 will open, and when pulled to the other side, the slot48 will be closed.

It will be seen that the front wall 42 has a number of compartments 54a,54 b, 54 c and 54 d, each of which is able to receive an object,generally indicated by the reference numeral 56. In the embodiment shownin the present illustrations, there are four compartments, but anynumber of compartments, having any desirable shape and/or size, can beformed.

A pouch 60 forms part of the harness 10 of the invention. The pouch 60generally comprises a square, rectangular, or other shaped bag 62 whichis dimensioned so that it can be inserted through the slot 48. The bag62 has an upper edge 64 which is preferably secured within the space 46,such that the remainder of the bag 62 can either be placed within thespace 46, or allowed to project or hang outwardly from the space 46through the slot 48 when the zipper 50 or other type of fastening isopen. This is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings. The bag 62 alsocomprises an access opening 66 in one of the walls of the bag 62, theaccess opening 66 being openable and closable so that objects can beinserted into, and removed from, the bag 62. Preferably, the bag 62 isdimensioned and configured so as to hold relatively flat or smalleritems, but this can, of course, change, depending upon the dimensionsselected for the container 12. Thus, the container 12 may be expandablein some way, so that larger items inserted into the bag 62 can beproperly accommodated in the container 12, which will expandcommensurately in order to receive the specific objects in the pouch bag62.

In place of an access 66, the bag 62 may comprise a fold back portion,movable between a closed and an open position, and which can beappropriately folded back to an open position to gain access to the bag62. The fold back portion can thereafter be returned to its originalposition to effect closure of the bag 62.

The harness 10 of the invention thus provides for the accommodation oflarger items, to be placed in the compartments 54, and other items whichshould be concealed or protected from the exterior, to be accommodatedin the bag 62. Once placed in the bag 62, the pouch 60 can be pushedinto the space 46 through the slot, which can then be closed by thezipper 50, essentially protectively sealing the contents of the bag 62from the exterior.

A significant number of modifications to the invention are feasible, andare within the scope of the invention. Thus, the pouch 60, while shownas being released from the container 12 from the bottom, may extendthrough an access opening which may be located at any other position onthe container 12. Further, there may be alternative or additionalpouches in the connector portion 28 of the belt 14, or even in thelateral components 24 and 26 of the belt 14.

The bag 62 of the pouch 60 may he of any convenient shape, size orconfiguration, and be specially adapted to accommodate either flatarticles or three dimensional articles. The bag 62 may itself havecompartments or discrete sections so as to separate any objects placedtherein from each other. The compartments 54 themselves may, as alreadymentioned, vary both in number and size and configuration, as well as inshape, so that a particular compartment or compartments may be speciallyformed and configured for receiving equipment of predetermineddimensions.

Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and thedrawings correspond to the following elements:

-   -   harness 10    -   container 12    -   belt 14    -   second side wall 16    -   first side wall 18    -   bottom wall 20    -   top wall 22    -   first lateral components 24    -   second lateral component 26    -   connector portion 28    -   belt portion 30    -   end 32    -   back wall 40    -   front wall 42    -   open space 46    -   slot 48    -   zipper 50    -   pod compartments 54 a 54 b 54 c and 54 d    -   pod object 56    -   pouch 60    -   shaped bag 62    -   upper edge 64    -   access opening 66

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted toobtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with otheradvantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also beunderstood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility andmay be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations.This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Manypossible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing fromthe scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

1. A harness apparatus adapted to be secured to a user for carryingpaintball pods, the apparatus comprising: a central body having an innerside and an outer side defining an internal core accessible by a bodyopening, the inner side of the central body having said body opening; acarrying connector adapted to allow the central body to be secured tothe user; at least one pod sleeve connected to the outer side of thecentral body, the pod sleeve adapted to hold at least one paintball pod;and a pouch connected to the central body, the pouch adapted to fitwithin the internal core, the pouch adjustable between a concealedposition wherein said pouch is inside of said internal core and anexposed position wherein the pouch is substantially outside of saidinternal core.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a firstresealable closure device adapted to secure the body opening.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2, the first resealable closure device comprising azipper.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, the first resealable closure devicecomprising a hook and loop fastener system.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the pod sleeve is releasably attached to the central body. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a securing lid adapted tosecure a pod in the pod sleeve.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein atleast one end of the securing lid is connected to the pod sleeve by areleasable connection.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch at leastpartially constructed from a waterproof material.
 9. The apparatus ofclaim 1, the pouch at least partially constructed from a breathablematerial.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouch at least partiallyconstructed from a netting material.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, thepouch at least partially constructed from an elastic material.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1, the pouch connected to the internal core of thecentral body.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, the central body furthercomprising a connector portion.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1, the pouchdefining a pouch opening.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, furthercomprising: a second resealable closure device adapted to secure thepouch opening.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, the second resealableclosure device comprising a zipper.
 17. The apparatus of claim 15, thesecond resealable closure device comprising a hook and loop fastenersystem.
 18. A harness apparatus adapted to be secured to a user forcarrying paintball pods, the apparatus comprising: a central body havingan inner side and an outer side defining an internal core accessible bya body opening, the inner side of the central body having said bodyopening; a carrying connector adapted to allow the central body to besecured to the user; at least one pod sleeve connected to the outer sideof the central body, the pod sleeve adapted to hold at least onepaintball pod; and a pouch connected to the internal core of the centralbody and adapted to fit within the internal core, the pouch adjustablebetween a concealed position wherein said pouch is inside of saidinternal core and an exposed position wherein the pouch is substantiallyoutside of said internal core.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein thepod sleeve is releasably attached to the central body.
 20. A harnessapparatus adapted to be secured to a user for carrying paintball pods,the apparatus comprising: a central body having an inner side and anouter side defining an internal core accessible by a body opening, theinner side of the central body having said body opening; a carryingconnector adapted to allow the central body to be secured to the user;at least one pod sleeve connected to the outer side of the central body,the pod sleeve adapted to hold at least one paintball pod; and a podpouch connected to the central body, the pod pouch adapted to fit withinthe internal core when not in use, the pouch adjustable between aconcealed position wherein said pouch is inside of said internal coreand an exposed position wherein the pouch is substantially outside ofsaid internal core.